Russia’s tomato embargo costs Turkey $ 2 billion

Baku. 11 August. REPORT.AZ/ “Turkey’s losses after banning the export of tomatoes to Russia have made $ 2 billion”.

Report informs citing the Russian media, analyst of the National Horticultural Union Kirill Lashin said.

According to him, earlier, about 40% of the tomatoes cultivated in Turkey were exported to Russia.

“In 2016, the Russian production of tomatoes grew by 18%. Thus, the self-sufficiency of the country on this vegetable is equal to approximately 40%,” Lashin said.

“After the Russian market was shut down, Turkish producers sent some part of the export to Belarus,” he explained. China could partially take the place of Turkish suppliers in Russia; Azerbaijan increased the volume of supply twice, Morocco three times and Belarus increased the supply a little bit.

Notably, on August 7, head of Russia’s Agriculture Ministry Alexander Tkachev stated that Moscow was not ready to purchase Turkish tomatoes. On August 9, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said that Ankara would take countermeasures, if Moscow did not lift trade restrictions on the supply of a number of agricultural products, including tomatoes.